Heritable immunization of mice against Lyme disease enables ecological disease prevention (opens in new tab)

Heritable immunization is a promising approach to controlling infectious diseases by embedding immunity directly into the genomes of wild species that spread human pathogens. Here, we report the genetic engineering of Mus musculus to genomically encode a single-chain antibody against Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease. After optimization of the antibody format, engineered mice stably produce a LA-2 scFv-albumin fusion protein targeting the Borrelia outer surface protein...